Chesapeake Fire Department Communication Procedures PDF

Procedure 203 Chesapeake Fire Department Fire Procedure Manual Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2023/03/25, All Rights Reserved.Published with permission by Chesapeake Fire Department Communication Procedures - 1 Communication Procedures 203.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE This document will establish guideline...

Procedure 203 Chesapeake Fire Department Fire Procedure Manual Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2023/03/25, All Rights Reserved.Published with permission by Chesapeake Fire Department Communication Procedures - 1 Communication Procedures 203.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE This document will establish guidelinesto delineate the proper use of the Chesapeake Fire Department’s radio system and to ensure a safe, accurate, and efficient means of communicating during emergency and routine operations. With regard to radio tranmissions, NO CALL GOES UNANSWERED! If someone is calling for help and the Emergency Communications Center (CHESAPEAKE) does not answer, anyone hearing the transmission should answer it immediately and do whatever they can to lend assistance. Conversely, if a fire department unit is dispatched and does not sign on as “Responding” in a reasonable time, the dispatcher must immediately dispatch the next due unit to the incident. 203.2 DEFINITIONS Accountability- Tracking of personnel by the Incident Commander or Accountability Officer during an incident. All Clear- This term is used by an interior company or interior sector officer to report to the IC that the primary search for occupants has been completed. Arriving at- This term is used when a medic or fire unit is arriving at the hospital. Available- This term is used only when a unit is ready to answer another alarm. Code 4 - This term is used by the Emergency Communications Center (ECC) to verify the safety of personnel operating on an emergency scene. This is also the response given by department personnel to ECC in order to confirm their safety. Emergency Traffic- This term is used to indicate that an important message will be transmitted. All radio traffic on that talk group will cease until the emergency traffic has been transmitted. The unit with the emergency traffic will have exclusive use of that talk group until the unit clears the emergency traffic request. Evacuate the structure- This term is used to signal the emergency evacuation of all personnel from an unsafe structure. Once this order has been issued, all radio communications will be limited to those related directly to the emergency evacuation until all personnel are accounted for. Fill–in- This term is used to describe the temporary assignment of apparatus to another fire station when regularly assigned equipment is not available for service. Fire Alerting Program- System used to alert fire units of pending dispatch. Fire Under Control- This term is used to denote that the forward progress of the fire has been stopped and that the remaining fire can be extinguished with resources already on-scene or en- route. It does not mean that the fire is completely extinguished. Chesapeake Fire Department Fire Procedure Manual Communication Procedures Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2023/03/25, All Rights Reserved.Published with permission by Chesapeake Fire Department Communication Procedures - 2 Mayday- This term is used whenever personnel are suspected or known to be missing or trapped. The unit issuing the "Mayday" will immediately provide the Incident Commander (IC) and all other units on the scene with information and details pertinent to the missing person(s) last known location. O.K.- Acknowledges that the response or transmission has been received. On-scene- Arrived at the scene of the incident. On-DeckCrew- All On-Deck members will monitor the assigned Tactical Talk-group. This procedure will ensure that any time a firefighter activates the emergency button on their radio, a member of the On-Deck crew will have immediate contact with the member. Responding- En-route to the incident. Roll Call- Roll Call is the equipment status report performed at 0700 hours daily. Units will advise “Chesapeake” if they are using reserve equipment as first run apparatus and if the unit is Advance Life Support (ALS). Transporting to- This term is used when a medic or fire unit is en route to the hospital. Sample Radio Transmission- To ensure proper radio transmissions, CFD units will begin their transmissions with their unit identification i.e., “Medic 5” followed by “Chesapeake.” CFD units will wait to be ACKNOWLEDGED by “Chesapeake” before continuing their radio transmission. Example: (Medic 5) “Medic 5 to Chesapeake”; (Chesapeake) “Medic 5”; (Medic 5) “Medic 5 is on the scene”; (Chesapeake) “O.K. Medic 5 at 16:20.” If acknowledgement from ECC does not occur, repeat the transmission until the ECC acknowledges. In addition, if “Chesapeake” announces “Stand-by for next dispatch,” CFD units will stand by until the dispatch has been completed. Working Incident- This term is used by the IC to identify the significant nature of a response that will require at least the resources dispatched on the original assignment. 203.3 PROCEDURE (a) The Emergecy Communications Center (ECC) will be referred to as "CHESAPEAKE". There are two dispatch channels: 1. One will be identified as “Primary” and the other will be identified as “Secondary”. The Primary Dispatch Talk-group will be used to dispatch all incidents. 2. The Secondary Dispatch Talk-group will serve as a back-up dispatch talk-group and will be utilized only by the Emergency Communications Center. 3. The Primary Fire Dispatcher will monitor and control the radio traffic from the initial dispatch on incidents with three (3) or less units. 4. The Tactical Fire Dispatcher will be used when four (4) or more units are dispatched on an incident. 5. All tactical channels will be monitored unless the Incident Commander advises it can be Non-Monitored. Chesapeake Fire Department Fire Procedure Manual Communication Procedures Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2023/03/25, All Rights Reserved.Published with permission by Chesapeake Fire Department Communication Procedures - 3 6. All units, not assigned to a monitored tactical channel, will ALWAYS monitor the Primary Dispatch Talk-group. 7. Units will mark AVAILABLE on the Primary Dispatch Talk-group, or on their MDT as outlined in Policy 705 Mobile Data System Use. (b) When an alarm is transmitted, the ECC Staff will use the following procedures: 1. All incidents will be dispatched on the Primary Dispatch Talk-group using the US Digital fire alerting system. 2. The dispatcher will provide a “Time Stamp” indicating the time a unit is dispatched, responds, arrives, transports or marks available. 3. “ACKNOWLEDGEMENT” of the incident is required from the station and/or unit from 2000 to 0700. This must be received by the ECC within one (1) minute from the end of the dispatch procedure. If no acknowledgement is received, the process will be repeated and the station(s) will be called by phone. (c) When a response is transferred to the Tactical Fire Dispatcher, responding unit(s) will use the following procedure: 1. Alarms utilizing four (4) or more units or when requested shall be assigned a Tactical talk group. 2. Tactical talk groups will be used in the following order: FD- TAC-2 FD- TAC-3 FD- TAC-4 FD- TAC-5 FD- TAC-6 FD- TAC-7 FD- TAC-8 FD- TAC-9 FD- TAC-10 FD- FD/ PD TAC 3. Once units are dispatched they will immediately switch to the assigned Tactical talk-group. All transmissions from the initial response (Responding) will be made on the assigned talk-group with the exception of marking AVAILABLE. 4. The Tactical Fire Dispatcher will provide responding units updates as information is received. 5. Units dispatched to a second or greater alarm will be assigned a separate Tactical talk-group. Per policy, the first arriving unit will assume the duties as the Staging Officer and manage the process until formally assigned or replaced by a Staging Group Supervisor. They will advise the Incident Commander of the staging location, units in staging and Tactical talk-group assigned. 6. As units in Staging are committed to the incident, they will switch to the Tactical talk-group assigned to the incident and report as assigned. (d) The declaration of a “Working Incident” will elicit the following actions: 1. Notification of a Working Incident will be sent through the Everbridge system. Normally, this request is indicated by the first arriving company. This will ensure Chesapeake Fire Department Fire Procedure Manual Communication Procedures Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2023/03/25, All Rights Reserved.Published with permission by Chesapeake Fire Department Communication Procedures - 4 that command staff and additional support personnel are aware and respond to support the incident command structure, if required. 2. Using the Everbridge system, the Emergency Communications Center will, as soon as practical, send a notification to the Working Incident Group providing the following information: Type of incidentUnit in commandLocation (Address)Assigned Tactical- Group 3. Normally the 3rd due Battalion Chief will initiate the backfill of empty fire stations (as required). This may be delegated to any Chesapeake Fire Department Chief Officer or an on-duty Fire Captain, depending on the circumstances of the event. 4. The Tactical Fire Dispatcher shall notify the Incident Commander at each 20- minute interval starting from the arrival of the first unit on scene. This serves as a reminder to conduct the Personnel Accountability Report (PAR). Notifications will continue until the Incident Commander advises PAR’s are no longer required. 5. When switching from offensive to defensive operations Command has the option of using their portable radio to activate the Emergency Evacuation Tone or request the Emergency Communication Center to activate the Emergency Evacuation Tone. Additionally, Command will order fire apparatus at the scene to sound continuous blasts on the air horn. Simultaneously, Command using radio communications will state "Evacuate the Structure!" All further radio communications will be limited to transmissions related directly to the emergency evacuation. This process will be repeated until all personnel are accounted for as provided by P.A.R. 6. If a second alarm is requested the fire dispatcher(s) will, as soon as practical, send notification via the Everbridge System of that request. (e) Tactical talk group Restrictions: 1. The Emergency Communications Center is responsible for allocating the distribution of radio talk-groups. The use of tactical talk-groups is restricted to units assigned to an incident. If there is unauthorized radio traffic on a tactical talk-group the Emergency Communications Center has the authority to notify units the talk-groups are restricted and to stop all transmissions. 2. Exceptions: The following talk groups do not require coordination with the Emergency Communications Center prior to use: FD-DISP FD-ACADFD-PREVTRG-STAFMARSHALHAZMATSWAT MEDP/S-TAC-1FD-CITYWDP/S-TAC-2FD-ADMINCGHFD-TRAINFD-TA Chesapeake Fire Department Fire Procedure Manual Communication Procedures Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2023/03/25, All Rights Reserved.Published with permission by Chesapeake Fire Department Communication Procedures - 5 (f) Emergency Button Activation 1. The City’s P25 radio system includes an Emergency Identification Button (orange button on the radio). Upon activating the “Emergency Button”, the radio will automatically activate the emergency on the talk-group the radio is selected. This is referred to as “tactical emergency”. 2. If this feature is activated, the fire dispatcher(s) will initiate the following procedure: (a) The fire dispatcher(s) will ascertain from the user whether it was an accidental or valid activation via the pre-established internal passwords. If activation is accidental, the only response the dispatcher will recognize to clear the activation is the internal passwords followed by the word "Error". Any response other than the internal passwords or no response will indicate a valid emergency and require the dispatcher to send immediate help to the unit or operator's last known location. (b) The fire dispatcher(s) will challenge the unit/operator twice. (c) The accidental activation can be cleared on FD DISP or the tactical talk- group assigned. (d) Once determined that the activation is valid, the dispatcher will immediately notify the Incident Commander and/or Battalion Chief indicating which unit activated the emergency button (Ex. MEDIC-14- B, ENGINE-5-A) and immediately begin to monitor and manage the emergency. (e) If the activation involves a single unit response (not involved in a working incident), the appropriate Battalion Chief will be notified immediately and a Chesapeake Police unit dispatched to their last known location. The Battalion Chief (or designee) will monitor and manage the situation until it’s resolved. 3. During a valid activation, the dispatcher will make an announcement that an emergency has been received. Using the radio alias displayed on the dispatch console, the dispatcher will identify which radio activated the emergency signal. That information will be provided to the Battalion Chief (or designee) for proper management. 4. Holding the orange button until a long beep is received clears the emergency activation. If this does not clear the activation, turn the radio off and back on. Note: If the radio is turned off there will be no communication with the fire dispatcher. (g) Request for Police Department Response 1. There are certain times the fire department asks for PD response to a scene for a multitude of reasons. These reasons can include a need for an emergency response, for example a disorderly patient or family member. Or the reason could be a non-emergency response for a forced-entry situation. Chesapeake Fire Department Fire Procedure Manual Communication Procedures Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2023/03/25, All Rights Reserved.Published with permission by Chesapeake Fire Department Communication Procedures - 6 2. There are certain circumstances when fire personnel might not be able to convey exactly why PD is needed due to proximity of a threat or problem, and a request for PD could further escalate the situation. 3. In response to this, fire department members will use priority codes to let dispatchers know what kind of police response to send when they are unable to verbalize why PD is needed. The priority codes will be designated as follows: (a) Priority 1 : This will be for an emergency response for PD. Two officers will be dispatched to the call and the officers will be advised of an "expedited response" for an unknown problem at this time. (b) Priority 2 : This will be a non-emergent response requested for PD. One officer would be dispatched to the call for an unknown problem at this time. This would be a normal/non-emergent response for PD. (h) Interoperability: 1. When a CFD unit is operating in another locality they will always begin the transmission with “Chesapeake” then the unit designation. (a) Example : i. CFD :“Chesapeake Engine 12 to Portsmouth Dispatch.” ii. Portsmouth Dispatch : “Go ahead, Chesapeake Engine 12.” iii. CFD : “Chesapeake Engine 12 is responding to…” 2. When a CFD unit is dispatched to an alarm in another city, the CFD unit will switch to the assigned talk-group for that city that has requested aid and advise they are “Responding”. Times for all activities taking place within that city will be tracked by the city receiving the aid. When released from an incident, the released unit will mark “Available” on CFD Primary Dispatch 3. All Mutual Aid units and Nightingale have the ability to utilize all tactical talk- groups. 203.4 RADIO SYSTEM 203.4.1 P25 RADIO SYSTEM/C.A.D. ISSUES In the event of a failure of the radio system, the emergency fallback systems will provide limited emergency communications for all public safety agencies in the city. (a) All fire stations and/or units will establish a radio watch. (b) Fire Station telephones will be restricted to emergency use only. (c) The NPS-TAC talk groups can be used for communications with the ECC, mobile, and portable radios. (d) FD-TA can be used for on-scene communication (line of site).This is NOT monitored by the ECC. (e) If C.A.D. is down all units need to track their own times. Chesapeake Fire Department Fire Procedure Manual Communication Procedures Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2023/03/25, All Rights Reserved.Published with permission by Chesapeake Fire Department Communication Procedures - 7 (f) If there is a catastrophic failure of the P25 radio system, the VHF radio system will be used. 1. VHF Fire 1 2. VHF Fire 2 3. VHF Fire 3 203.4.2 VHF MUTUAL AID FIRE & EMS TALK-GROUPS (a) There is an EMS mutual aid talk-group that can be utilized to contact units from other jurisdictions if unable to use the P25 system. This talk-group is referred to as “Statewide 1”. (b) There is a Fire mutual aid talk-group that can be utilized to contact units from other jurisdictions if unable to use the P25 system. This talk-group is referred to as VHF Fire Mutual Aid.